Seniors Michael Juricich and Tori Dwyer quickly learned going barefoot isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, it’s nice at the beach or on a hot summer day. All day, every day is another matter altogether. Unfortunately many children in developing countries don’t have any other option and that’s why Juricich and Dwyer teamed up to fundraise for TOMS shoes.
TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: buy a pair of shoes and TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. Called the TOMS One for One business model, the movement has transformed the company’s customers into its benefactors and captured the attention of people worldwide.
Juricich and Dwyer were similarly intrigued by an ad they’d seen on television about TOMS Shoes. Deciding to make it their senior project, the pair embarked on hours of planning and organizing which in the end, helped them raise $1,500 they will donate to the Friends of TOMS organization.
“We spent close to 50 hours working on our project. We held a car wash in March and a walk-a-thon in April,” said Juricich. “Close to 30 people joined us for the walk-a-thon and a raffle we held during that event also helped us raise a lot more money.”
Raffle donations were procured after meetings with owners from Plaza stores like the Loop, Eraldi’s, Sonoma Silver, Robin’s Nest, Readers’ Books and Fleurtique. While the project taught both seniors about fundraising and organizing for a cause, perhaps most importantly, they learned the benefit of shoes.
“We spent a weekend walking around downtown Santa Rosa and Sonoma without shoes,” said Dwyer. “It was really painful. I won’t take shoes for granted ever again.
Both students will attend Santa Rosa Junior College in the fall.
